Day 062 - 06 Dec 94 - Page 07
1 aspects.
2
3 Q. I expect you are aware that the McDonald's Corporation in
4 America undertook with the Environmental Defence Fund, a
5 joint Task Force, a review of this question of polystyrene
6 foam versus paper. I think it was in 1991 they came down
7 in favour of paper. Are you conscious of that piece of
8 work?
9 A. Yes, I am.
10
11 Q. Why then, it may be asked, do McDonald's in Europe not go
12 down that same route?
13 A. That has been a different comparison.
14
15 Q. I was going to let you explain that.
16 A. OK. As I said earlier, we had the foam clam shell and
17 a paper board clam shell or a box. The third option that
18 is open is a paper wrapper. It is a plastic coated paper
19 wrapper, a quilt wrap, as they call it, in the States.
20 This wrap has over the clam shell larger advantages because
21 it is so much lighter than the paperboard clam shell.
22
23 Why McDonald's has not gone in that direction is to my
24 understanding the following, is that has a lot of
25 operational disadvantages. It does present the sandwich a
26 lot worse especially, for instance, in take-out, it crushes
27 the sandwich a lot more, besides the operation to actually
28 pack the sandwich in a wrapper is a lot more labour
29 intensive than putting it into a clam shell box.
30
31 Q. I do not know whether you are able to answer this,
32 Mr. Van Erp; if you are not, then please say so. Do you
33 know as between the different European countries what are
34 the perceived problems about the disposal of waste? That
35 is not a very well put question. But, for example, are
36 there distinctions or differences to be drawn between
37 attitudes in, let us say, Germany on the one hand and
38 France on the other? Do you know the answer to that sort
39 of a question?
40 A. I certainly would not pretend to know the whole answer
41 to that question because I think few people do. There is
42 differences in these markets. They are partially based on
43 the fact that in Germany they have more trouble with a
44 NIMBY syndrome; people do not want new waste disposal sites
45 or incineration sites close to their place, partially
46 because they already have so many so they are running out
47 of landfill space.
48
49 That attitude is somewhat less in-- and then there is
50 between France and Germany there is a difference in
51 attitude towards incineration where that is a lot more
52 accepted in France than in Germany. The exact reasons for
53 that, I can only speculate about.
54
55 Q. Can we now, please, look at some detail? My Lord, Mr. Van
56 Erp has got with him (since, to a large extent, his
57 evidence consists of calculations) in the witness box his
58 statement with the tables that go with it, the documents he
59 produced for yesterday's hearing and, I believe, some notes
60 he did in preparing his various tables and calculations; is
